(a) Availability; procedures for use. Without leaveof court or written stipulation, any party may serve upon any other partywritten interrogatories, not exceeding 25 in number including all discretesubparts, to be answered by the party served or, if the party served is apublic or private corporation, a partnership, an association, or a governmentalagency, by any officer or agent, who shall furnish such information as isavailable to the party. Leave to serve additional interrogatories shall begranted to the extent consistent with the principles of Rule 26(b)(3). Withoutleave of court or written stipulation, interrogatories may not be served beforethe time specified in Rule 26(d).

(b) Answers and objections.

(b)(1) Each interrogatory shall be answered separately and fully in writingunder oath, unless it is objected to, in which event the objecting party shallstate the reasons for objection and shall answer to the extent theinterrogatory is not objectionable.

(b)(2) The answers are to be signed by the person making them, and theobjections signed by the attorney making them.

(b)(3) The party upon whom the interrogatories have been served shall servea copy of the answers and objections, if any, within 30 days after the serviceof the interrogatories. A shorter or longer time may be ordered by the courtor, in the absence of such an order, agreed to in writing by the partiessubject to Rule 29.

(b)(4) All grounds for an objection to an interrogatory shall be stated withspecificity. Any ground not stated in a timely objection is waived unless theparty's failure to object is excused by the court for good cause shown.

(b)(5) The party submitting the interrogatories may move for an order underRule 37(a) with respect to any objection to or other failure to answer aninterrogatory.

(c) Scope; use at trial. Interrogatories may relate to any matters which canbe inquired into under Rule 26(b), and the answers may be used to the extentpermitted by the Rules of Evidence.

An interrogatory otherwise proper is not necessarily objectionable merelybecause an answer to the interrogatory involves an opinion or contention thatrelates to fact or the application of law to fact, but the court may order thatsuch an interrogatory need not be answered until after designated discovery hasbeen completed or until a pretrial conference or other later time.

(d) Option to produce business records. Where the answer to an interrogatorymay be derived or ascertained from the business records, includingelectronically stored information, of the party upon whom the interrogatory hasbeen served or from an examination, audit, or inspection of such businessrecords, including a compilation, abstract, or summary thereof and the burdenof deriving or ascertaining the answer is substantially the same for the partyserving the interrogatory as for the party served, it is a sufficient answer tosuch interrogatory to specify the records from which the answer may be derivedor ascertained and to afford to the party serving the interrogatory reasonableopportunity to examine, audit, or inspect such records and to make copies,compilations, abstracts, or summaries. A specification shall be in sufficientdetail to permit the interrogating party to locate and to identify, as readilyas can the party served, the records from which the answer may be ascertained.